Sounds like sanctions do work with time. Yet by not makeing it clear what is involved can this just be another cycle of talks while more of their adavance equipment is suttled underground?

.Iran offers 'full supervision' of nuclear program

AP – 43 mins ago. 5 Sept. 2011

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's nuclear chief is proposing a "full supervision" of its nuclear program by the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency for five years in return for lifting of sanctions against Tehran.

Fereidoun Abbasi didn't elaborate what he meant by full supervision or what it would include. He made the comments in an interview with the semiofficial ISNA news agency Monday.

Iran's nuclear program is already subject to some IAEA inspections.

Referring to the International Atomic Energy Agency, he said, "We proposed that the agency keep Iran's nuclear program and activities under full supervision for five years provided that sanctions against Iran are lifted."

The U.S. and its allies accuse Iran of seeking to build a nuclear weapon. Iran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.

Well this is one way to deal with drug dealers, but very inhuman to say the least.

.Two drug smugglers hanged in Iran

AFP – 7 hrs ago. 10 Sept. 2011

Two convicted drug traffickers were hanged on Saturday in a prison in the northern city of Sari, the ISNA news agency reported.

The report did not identify either of those executed.

The latest hangings bring to 186 the number of executions reported in Iran so far this year, according to an AFP tally based on media and official reports.

Iranian media reported 179 hangings last year but international human rights groups say the actual number was much higher, ranking the Islamic republic second only to China in the number of people it executed in 2010.

Tehran says the death penalty is essential to maintain law and order, and that it is applied only after exhaustive judicial proceedings.

proceedings that put 2 American's on the boarder near nothing, as spies... I doubt any westerner would want to be tried in Iran..

Murder, rape, armed robbery, drug trafficking and adultery are among the crimes punishable by death in Iran.

Well this is one way to deal with drug dealers, but very inhuman to say the least.

.Two drug smugglers hanged in Iran

AFP – 7 hrs ago. 10 Sept. 2011

Two convicted drug traffickers were hanged on Saturday in a prison in the northern city of Sari, the ISNA news agency reported.

The report did not identify either of those executed.

The latest hangings bring to 186 the number of executions reported in Iran so far this year, according to an AFP tally based on media and official reports.

Iranian media reported 179 hangings last year but international human rights groups say the actual number was much higher, ranking the Islamic republic second only to China in the number of people it executed in 2010.

Tehran says the death penalty is essential to maintain law and order, and that it is applied only after exhaustive judicial proceedings.

proceedings that put 2 American's on the boarder near nothing, as spies... I doubt any westerner would want to be tried in Iran..

Murder, rape, armed robbery, drug trafficking and adultery are among the crimes punishable by death in Iran.

it is hard to figure out this :carzy man. But if allowed to become free I thank the Lord, not him.

Quote:

U.S. hikers to be freed, Iran president says

By Laura Rozen

Senior Foreign Affairs Reporter

.By Laura Rozen | The Envoy – 2 hrs 51 mins ago.. .

Two American hikers held for more than two years in an Iranian jail will be freed in days after paying bail, Iran's president said Tuesday, describing the release as a "humanitarian gesture."

And Bail there is

"They illegally crossed our borders," Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told NBC News' Ann Curry in an exclusive interview. "And they were arrested by the border guards. And all countries have laws for illegal border-crossing. They have very tough laws. We have the same laws here in the country." (You can watch a video of Ahmadinejad discussing the hikers' case in an interview on the NBC "Today Show" below.)

Well if you think our political machine is wacky, Iran's is much worst. Seems one or the other dosen't share with the others.

Quote:

Iran judiciary denies U.S. men's release is imminent

By Parisa Hafezi | Reuters – 6 hrs ago. 14 Sept. 2011

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's judiciary said on Wednesday the release on bail of two U.S. citizens convicted of espionage was not imminent, state media reported, rejecting President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's announcement that they will be freed in a couple of days.

Analysts say the contrast between the judiciary's statement and Ahmadinejad's promise highlights a rift between Iran's ruling hardline elites, germinated by Ahmadinejad's disputed 2009 re-election and the protests which followed.

The statement is also an indication of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's powerful position in the Islamic state's complex political structure, analysts say.

"Ahmadinejad's announcement could not be made without getting a green light from the leader ... however, the judiciary's move reminded the president of his limitations," said analyst Saeed Monfared.

"Khamenei is a very clever politician ... who avoids empowering others too much ... the two will be freed but not at the time announced by Ahmadinejad."

Ahmadinejad had told U.S. media that the two would be freed "in a couple of days," in what he called a humanitarian gesture shortly ahead of his trip to the United Nations in New York.

But Iran's state television quoted a judiciary statement as saying, "The two Americans are going to stay in prison for a bit longer. Reports of their imminent release are wrong."
.................................................. ............................ Continued .................................................. ........................................

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Two Americans jailed in Iran as spies left Tehran on Wednesday, closing a high-profile drama with archfoe Washington that brought more than two years of hope then heartbreak for the families as the Islamic Republic's hard-line rulers rejected international calls for their release.

Iran's state news agency IRNA said Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal left Iran just as darkness fell in the capital. An Omani official told The Associated Press the men were flying to the capital, Muscat. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. He did not say how long the two men will stay in the Gulf state before heading home to America.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — In the ongoing political skirmishes among Iran's leadership, it was the equivalent of bringing out the heavy ammunition: The country's most powerful figure warning that the post of elected president could someday be scrapped.

Although no overhauls appear on the immediate horizon after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's comment — he spoke only vaguely about possibilities in the "distant future" — the mere mention of eliminating Iran's highest elected office shows the severity and scope of the power struggle between Khamenei and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

For months, the ruling theocracy has been piling pressure on Ahmadinejad and arresting his allies for attempts to challenge the near-absolute authority of the cleric-ruled system that has controlled Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The blunt words by Khamenei on Sunday suggest a twofold agenda: Further tightening the lid on Ahmadinejad and showing others in the wings that Iran's rulers are ready to take drastic measures to protect what's theirs.

"There is bad blood," said Mehrzad Boroujerdi, who follows Iranian affairs at Syracuse University. "Khamenei is trying to make it very clear that the system can only handle so much discord and that he holds the stronger cards."

It also marks one of the first clear hints of the ruling clerics' hardball strategies for parliamentary elections in March. Khamenei and his allies are expected to use their many tools, including the ability to vet and block candidates, to try to steamroll Ahmadinejad's backers and push the president — once Khamenei's protege — farther into the political margins.

The ruling power structure in Iran, which includes not only hard-line clerics but also the hugely influential Revolutionary Guard, appears increasingly eager to snuff out the internal bickering. It's seen as an unwelcome distraction as the country confronts critical issues such as whether to restart nuclear negotiations with the West, complaints about its human rights record and U.S. allegations that a special unit of the Guard was linked to a plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador in Washington.

"This is not a time when Iran wants anything that will rock the boat," said Boroujerdi.

I knew I had a Iran thread but it was 3 pages back. Got to keep up as I have posted else wheres a few.

Can you believe this report? Iran is a lot of trouble and now we got more.

Russia, China, and maybe some others will be flying their own in a year or so..

And Sense China & Russia have signed pacts to support/defend each other we have had more pushing from each. And both have new missiles and gen 5 fighter/bombers...

Quote:

.. Iran summons Afghan diplomat over US drone flight

AP – 2 hrs 30 mins ago... 10 Dec. 2011

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran has summoned the Afghan ambassador to protest the violation of its airspace by a U.S. surveillance drone that took off from neighboring Afghanistan.

The official IRNA news agency says Obeidollah Obeid was called to the Foreign Ministry to receive Iran's protest and demand explanations from the Afghan government over the pilotless spy plane.

You have to be trying out for comedy to continue.

Iran's state TV broadcast video Thursday of Iranian military officials inspecting what it identified as the RQ-170 Sentinel drone, and offered the first evidence that Tehran had captured the aircraft. The beige-colored drone appeared intact and undamaged.

Iranian state radio has said the unmanned aircraft was detected over the eastern town of Kashmar, some 140 miles (225 kilometers) from the border with Afghanistan.